Pascaline Lepeltier

Born in France, Pascaline has worked in the field of hospitality both in Europe and the US for more than fifteen years. She studied wine and trained with some of the best sommeliers in the world in Michelin-star restaurants. Since 2009, she has created and directed award-winning beverage programs in Manhattan, including Rouge Tomate's "Best Wine List in the World" by the World of Fine Wine. She is currently a partner at Racines NY, one of the top wine destinations of NYC. In 2014 she became a Master Sommelier. In 2018 she broke the glass ceiling for women in wine twice by becoming the first female to win the Best French Sommelier competition, as well as the first female sommelier to become MOF, “Un des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France - Sommellerie”. She teaches, is a regular guest speaker for international congress & seminars, consults and writes a monthly tribune for famous French wine magazine La Revue du Vin de France. She began her first winemaker collaboration in 2016 with her partner Nathan Kendall in New York’s Finger Lakes to create natural wine using indigenous grapes under the label chëpìka which has received international critical praise.

Wendy Wilmoth

Wendy has over twenty years of restaurant and hospitality experience. She has worked in NYC for the past twelve years at some of the most acclaimed restaurants in the city including Blue Hill Greenwich Village, Veritas, and Rouge Tomate. Her positions held have run the gamut from Host to Server to Beverage Director, Events Coordinator and General Manager. Her hospitality experience has mainly focused on Michelin starred restaurants dedicated to farm to table, organic, sustainable, and natural wine objectives. She has experience leading teams ranging in size from 15 to 105. She is passionate about resolving operational inefficiencies, building closely knit teams that hold a sense of purpose and pride in their work, and cost reduction strategies. She also has expertise in multiple areas of graphic design, photography, website design and creating branding materials and beverage labels. Her diverse experience lends a multifaceted lens and allows for a 360 degree perspective to the area of operational optimization.